The nitration of hydrocarbons generally produces a variety of products depending upon the reaction conditions and the feedstock structure. Certain products, however, may be more desirable than others and it has been a long-time goal to selectively produce the more useful nitrated compounds at the expense of less useful compounds, such as oxidation byproducts.
In contrast to commercial vapor phase nitration, the mixed vapor-liquid phase or high pressure nitration of hydrocarbons has been postulated in the past to be a technique by which desirable nitroparaffins can be potentially produced. See e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 2,489,320 (Nygaard et al.) and Albright, L. F., “Nitration of Paraffins,” Chem. Engr., (1966) pp. 149-156. The prior art mixed vapor-liquid phase process, however, was never practical for a number of reasons, including because the conversion of nitric acid is low, the nitric acid is not readily recoverable, problems with reactor corrosion by the nitric acid, and difficulty in controlling reaction exotherm.
Obtaining a high yield of nitrated hydrocarbons is a critical economic factor to be considered since low yields necessitate the use of more feed and therefore result in higher costs. Furthermore, when nitric acid is used as the nitrating agent, the unreacted nitric acid becomes a waste product and costs are incurred for proper disposal of the waste. High conversion of the reactant hydrocarbon is also economically critical in order to minimize capital and energy expenses associated with the purification and recycling of unreacted reactants. A need exists, therefore, for more economical, selective, and environmentally friendly processes for the manufacture of nitrated hydrocarbons and their derivatives.